What's your opinion of the Woodsman's Pal?

Samael

Samael

Joined
Sep 30, 2007
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NRA's new holiday catalog has one, with sheath and sharpening stone, for $80. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Would you recommend this?
 
It seems cool, But I think you could do just as well witha a decent ontario machete for more than half the price.... the brush hook on the back would get in the way of a baton as well.
 
I was thinking the samething as RR. That hook would reek havok on a when battoning, but other than that. I could see that it would be an pretty useful tool to have on the trail or campsite.
 
RescueRiley said:
It seems cool, But I think you could do just as well witha a decent ontario machete for more than half the price.... the brush hook on the back would get in the way of a baton as well.
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My sentiments exactly. And though mine sharpens easily, it doesn't hold the edge well. Imo, a good machette is a much better choice.
 
I tried the Woodsman's Pal... the long version. I despised it. :o It just didn't work for me. Tramontinas seem good for the money.

Really, I'm the furthest thing from a machete expert. I saw lots of 'em around the sugar cane fields of northern Belize. :p

I would take a look, if possible, at the Woodsman Pal in person before I ordered one. Do a search on the forums here - I think many people had the same experience I did.

Good luck!
 
i have used the woodsmans pal as a wood lot tool for about 5 years now, i have parted 10" logs with mine, and no the hook does not get in the way of batonning,you can hit the hook and it works just as well, i like mine a lot, it is a compact tool that will do a lot of jobs, if i needed to build a shelter in a hurry, the hook will take of limbs less than 1 1/2 inches thick easily with one swipe, take down a medium sized tree,limb the tree out and turn it into shelter material easily, it does not do as well on green material like grasses, but i have cut blackberry and raspberry canes easily as well, the edge holding is better than a machete, i like the wooden handle one. it is a very ruggedly built tool that was designed before WWII and has remained esentially unchanged. what other tool can you get a government printed fighting manual for. like mine a lot and keep ti on the tractor for easy availability.

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alex
 
I have had a WP for several years now and I really don't care for it. Mine lives under my truck seat and sees a fair amount of use but that is because I don't want to keep the Martindale golok in the cab. It looks too much like a weapon whereas the WP looks like a farm tool. I hav found the hook to be worthless. It did not come very sharp and is extremely difficult to sharpen. In addition the handle is curved to use the primary edge so turning it over makes it difficult to hold. Mine has a wood handle. The primary cutting edge came with an abrupt taper that meant I had to file a great deal of metal away to raise the efficiency of the cut.

The fact that it is a World War Two design means nothing to me. Yes it has a fighting manual, so what. IIRC an individual here spoke of using his Spetnatz shovel as a weapon and the sliced vegetables with it. I could do the same with the shovel I use to clean up horse manure. The fact that a tool has multiple uses beyond its design is fun but often times, like here, of no value. I am not a commando fighting the Japanese. I am a camper, hunter, father. I prefer a more purpose built tool like the golok.

I do think the WP is well made though overpriced. I can't emagine breaking one or even wearing one out. Mine cane with a canvas sheath which tore through in short order. I believe the current sheaths are cordura. Leather is also available for a big price.

If you do buy one a report is in order of course. :D Good luck and stay safe.
 
I'll bet I've looked at the ads for the Woodsman's Pal since I was a teenager in the early 1960s. I've looked and wondered, and I've looked and wondered some more, and I always come to the same conclusion as others here have. Namely, that a good, simple machete of whatever length is appropriate to your size, strength, and needs is a much simpler and better tool for cutting bushes, vines, and even very small trees. That "brush hook" on the back of the Woodsman's Pal seems to me like a nearly useless appendage in the real world. Evidently the manufacturer managed to palm off a bunch of the things on our government long ago, though, because some of them seem to have been official military issue, probably circa WWII. Those had leather washer handles with a D-handguard. Why a D-handguard? Goooooooood question. I've got one of Ron Hood's videos about a trip he, his wife, and some others made way up (or down?) the Amazon to visit some remote tribe of Indians and learn how they make a living in the jungle. Needless to say I guess, the Indians valued their simple machetes and they used them for about every cottonpickin' thing imaginable, except for sometimes cutting and splitting larger trees. They had a few axes for that chore. But they cut everything else and dressed fish and game with their machetes, often by choking up on the blade for better control. It seems that several inches of blade nearest the handle was not really sharpened. I nearly always go with the "simpler is better" theory, and it looks to me like the Woodsman's Pal is a collection of answers in search of a valid question.
 
magneto said:
The RC hardness is somewhere in the 40's, not that good for the price.
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I think it's hardened in the 47 range which is exactly what you want in this type tool. It will bend instead of breaking in hot and cool weather and will not shatter in freezing temperatures as harder blades will. machetes are hardened in the same range and up to 52-54.
 
Esav,

I don't own one of the Gerber Hooks but have used one and it's a very good tool.

I lost my Woodsman's Pal years ago and didn't even miss it.:barf:
Thankfully I bought it at a rummage sale for under 5 bucks.:D
 
Thanks. It is an old design, the billhook. A few companies have versions of it. I have wondered why it isn't at least as popular as hawksbill folders are.
 
I have one...it is fun, it is neat, if you are trying to work...its too slow get a better tool!
 
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